Delivering apparatus for railway-cars.



H. HOFPMANN. DELIVERING APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY CARS.

' APPLICATION-FILED NOV. 6, 1908. 912,678. Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

2 SHEBTSSHEBT 1.

Witnesses w uh o T N w v w mun w HM OH H H. HOFFMAN N DELIVERING APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6,190B.. 91 2,678, Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

lllymm/l/md a A, 8 m IE W lnvenhor" HenrY Hoffman bYW UNITED STATES EilENil onirron HENRY HOFFMANN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

DELIVERING APrAsArUs non RAILWAY-CARS.

I No. 912,678.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feh. 1e, recs.

Application filed November 6, 1908. Serial No. 461,394.

To all whom it maytconcern:

' Be it known that I, HENRY HOFFMANN, a

Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulglmprovementin Delivering Apparatus for-liailway-Qars, of which the folowing 1s afull, clear, and exact description,

' such as will enable others skilled in the art to 1 which it ,app'ertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of a railway car provided with a delivermg apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is. a vertical sectional view of said car and also the receiving housing located adjacent the track on which the car travels; and Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the receiving housing, one of the compartments inside of the car in which the ejectlng device'is located, and the member arranged between the rails of the track for automatically operating the ejecting devices.

This invention relates to a paratuses for delivering articles or packages from a railway car while it is in motion.

One object of my invention is to provide an apparatus for the purpose described that is ofsimple construction and which will deliver a ackage or article without/damaging it or en jecting it to a violent shock or blow.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for the purpose described comprising one or more ejectmg' devices arranged inside, ofa car and adapted tohold packages, and means arran ed adjacentthe track on which the car-trave s for actuating said ejecting devices when the car reaches a certain point so as to automatically eject the packages which the holders on said ejecting devices contain.

Another object of my invention is to provide adelivermg apparatus comprising a re-.

ceiving housing arranged adjacent a railway track, a movable member arranged inside of the car and adapted to hold a package or article, and means for automatically actuating said member when the car passes the receiving housing so as to eject the package from said member into said housin Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates a railway car and B designates a compartment inside of said car, one wall of said compartment being provided witha door 1 that can be opened so as to permit a package or article C to be placed on the ejecting device arranged ins1de of said compartment.

This ejecting device consists of a holder 2 of any preferred shape carried by a lever 3 which passes through a slot 4 in the floor of the compartment and is pivotally connected to a bracket 5 carriedby the floor frame of the car, said lever having an egtension' 6 that is adapted to col) erate with a stationary through an opening 7 in the side wall of the car. In the construction herein shown the means for moving the lever 3 outwardly consists of a stationary member 8 connected to the track ties adjacent one rail of the track and provided with o positely inclined faces 8 and 8 that are (isposed at an angle to said rail, as shown in'Fig. 3, the inclined face 8 operating to move the lever 3 outwardly when the car is traveling in the direction indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 1, arid the inclined faceS operating. to move the lever 3 outwardly when the car is traveling in the o posite direction. The means for moving t e lever 3 inwardly so as to restore the holder 2 to its normal position and maintain the lower end of the extension 6 in such a position that it will cooperate with the stationary member 8, consists of a spring 9 connected at one end to the lever 3 above its fulcrum and having its opposite and connected to ,a stationary device inside ofthe car, such, for example, as one wall of the compartment B, as shown in'Fig.'2.' The lever 3 travels in a slotted guide 10 arranged inside of the compartr'nent B, and 'elding buffers 11 and12 are provided for imiting the movement of said lever, the buffer 12 acting as a stop against which the lever 3 is forced with a quick or sudden stroke as it moves outwardly,

and the buffer 11 acting as setup with which the upper end of the lever contacts when it ISlI). its normal position.

A receiving housingDhis located adjacent the track on which the car A travels for re-' ceiving the ackages that are ejected from the car. This housing '1) preferably has a comparatively long'central ortion-13 provided in its inner wall with opening 14 so as to ermit, the package 0 to enter said housing Wlien thee'ecting device is operated. The end portions 0 the central part ,13 of the housing are inclined downwardly,;

an elongated as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, so as to permit the 1packages that enter said central portion to s i de down into aeompartment or 16 dependingupon the direction in which the car is traveling,;said compartments'15- -and 16 being located at the opposite-ends of the central compartments has a door provided with a look so that only an authorized person;

- namely, one-who possesses akey to the lock,

to remove the packages therefrom.

can obtain access to the compartment so as A train that travels in the direction indicated by the holders, and the receivinghousing can e is provided with two se arate and distinct r erence character a added thereto.

arrow 11 in- Fig. 1,- will eject a package into the'co'mpartment 15 of the. housing, and a train thatis traveling in theop osite direction will eject an article into t e compartment 16 of the housing.

The 'car A can be provided sired number of ejecting devices or packa e' rovided withia' corresponding number of ong central (portions, and communicating compartments located atthe ends thereof.

The ear herein shown is provided, with two ejecting devices, and the reeeiving'housingD central portions, each 0 .which merges into compartments that are provided with separate key-controlled doors, the parts which constitute this second ejecting device and the ortions or compartments of the receiving housing which cooperate therewith, being designated by the same reference characters used in .connectlon with the. e ecting device.

heretofore specifically described with the refit. will, of course, be obvious, however, that the'car could be provided with more than two ejecting devices so that diflere'nt kinds of pack ages or articles can be delivered from the car, such, for example, 'as maiLbags, bundles of newspapers-or express packagesu Havin described the construction 0f 111y improved delivering ap 'aratus, I will. now

. describethe o eration 0 same. when a car is traveling in t c direction arrow a in'Fig. 1. 3

If it is desired to deliver packages from the car when it passes the station at which the indicated by the receiving housing D is located, the clerk or operative inside of the car will place the packages in the holders 2 and 2 before the car reaches said station. When the car reaches.

the station the lower end of the extension 6 on the lever which carries the holder 2,will strike the inclined portion 8 oi. the member 8 arranged between the rails of the track and t-hus cause said holder to move outwardly,-

the package in said holdcrbeing. thrclwn or ejected into the central portion 13 of the housing D, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and then sliding down into the compartment 15 when the lever 3 that carries said holder,

portion 13 of the housing: and communicating therewith; Each of said with any de- "comes into engagement withthel'buffer v12 that hmits the outwardmovement of said lever. After ,the-lowe'r end of the extensioii 6 :passesout of engagement with the-imclined face 8*?'of the operating member the spring Qwrll move the lever ,3 inwardly and t us carry the holder 2 back to its normal posit on. As soon as the iower end of the extension 6 on lever 3 comes into-engageholder. 2? into the. central compartment 15 and remainin therein until will open the door of said compartment.

The ejecting devices operate-in-the sequence above referred to. when the car is traveling in the direction indicated by the arrowa in Fig. 1-, and when the car istravek $151 1n the opposite direction the holder 2! the aekages-in. said respective holders will be e ected into-the compartments 16 and 16 of the housing D;

move outwardly before the holder 2 and*.

' The construction of the-housing Dcould I be modified in various ways without do arting'from the. spirit of my invention, an the ejecting devices could also be constructed in various other ways without-departing from my lrroadidca which consists in a -movable device arranged inside of. a car and adapted to hold a package-or article and a stationary Iii-ember arranged adjacent the track and ndaptedto operate saidmovable niembel when the car travelspa'st the same so as to) throw the package but of the ear. I is Having thus' described my. invention,

desire to secure by what I claim as new and Letters Patent is:

1.:A delivering apparatus for cars, com;

prising a movable member arrangedinside ofa car and adapted'to receive a package or article, 'a' rigid device connected to said member and having a portion depending through an opening in. the floor of. the car,

and a stationary member arranged adjacentthe track on which the car travels and adapted to be engagedby the depending portion of said rigid device so .as toposl-j' tivoly actuate same when the car reaches a certain point and thus eject'the'package; substantially as described.

2. A delivering apparatus for cars comprising a pivotally mounted package arranged '1I1Sl(l0 ofa car and rigid depending portion t car travels, and a stationary moinber .ar-

holder provided with a at terminahq adjacent one railof the track on which'tho ranged between the track rails and adapted to engage the rigid dependingportion of holder'so as to swing same on its ivot and thus eject the package; substantia lyas describe 3. A delivering apparatus for cars, comprising an ejecting device arranged inside of a car and consisting of a lever provided at its upper end with a holder for receiving a package and having arigid extension that terminates adjacent the track on which the car travels, a stationary member arranged between the track rails and having an inclined face that said rigid extension comes into contact with when the car is in motion so as to positively move the-lever in one direction,

and means for returning the lever to its normal position; substantially as described.

. 4. A delivering apparatus for cars, comprisinga receiving housing having a plurality lever for receiving a package, a rigid extension on said lever which terminates adjacent the track on which the car travels, a member, connected to the-ties of the track and provided with an inclined face that said extension comes into contact with when the car is in motion so as to positively move the lever outwardly to eject the package in the holder through an opening in the side wall of the car, and yielding means for returning said lever to its normal position; substantially as described.

6. A delivering ap aratusfor cars, comprising an ejecting evice consisting of a laterally and thus eject holder through an opening in the side wall ofpivotally mounted package holder arranged inside of a car and provided with a rigid opcrating device that extends downwardly through the floor of the car, a stationary member connected to the ties of the track on which the car travels andh'aving an inclined face that is engaged by said rigid operating device to move the holder and thus eject the package therein, an d a housing arranged adjacent the track and provided with an elongated opening through which said package passes as it is opening in said housing extending longitudinally of the track; substantially as described 7. A delivering a plaratus for railway cars comprising a close ousing arranged adjacent a railway track and provided with a ejected from said holder, the;

long opening extending longitudinally of the track and also a door that is adapted to be locked, an ejecting device arranged inside of a compartment in a car and consisting of a pivoted lever provided at its upper end with a holder that is adapted to receive a package, a rigid extension on said lever that terminates adjacent travels, a member connected to the ties of the track and provided with o positely inclined faces that cooperate witli the extenthe track on which the car sion on said lever so as to move the lever the package in the the car and a spring for returning said lever to its normal position; substantially as described.

Intestimo-ny whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this fourth day of N ovember 1908.

HENRY HO FFMANN.

Witnesses:

WELLS L. CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL. 

